BBC Antiques Roadshow guest 'tells expert off' as he refuses to sell item
A guest on the Antiques Roadshow gave an expert a 'telling off' as he showed off his celebrity item.
The team were in Glasgow during Sunday night’s episode and met a man whose prized possession was a mouth organ owned by legendary singer Johnny Cash, given to him at a UK concert in the Eighties as he stood at the front of the crowd.
Speaking to cameras before seeing the experts, he said: “I’ve brought along Johnny Cash’s mouth organ. I’ve been offered quite a lot of money for it, but I won’t take it.” Asked by expert Lisa Lloyd about it, the man explained how he came to have it in his possession and said: “I’m a big Johnny Cash fan and in 1984 I went to the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow. I was standing right in the front row and he called me out and he handed me down his mouth organ. I was shocked myself as he came down off the stage and threw it down to us.”
Expert Lisa agreed and replied: “He was not known for handing out mouth organs, was he? Things like plectrums, you can understand, they often hand out. Of course in the 1950s, 1960s, Johnny Cash had many hit singles. He crossed over many genres, didn’t he? Almost like in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. It was country, it was Nashville. Just a brilliant musician and of course, you’ve got cast-iron provenance it is something he actually used at a concert."
Expert Lisa Lloyd was 'told off' by a guest who brought in his prized possession given to him by Johnny Cash (BBC)Calling it a “brilliant story,” Lisa added: “It’s a shame it’s not signed, obviously, as that would have been the icing on the cake. And there are an awful lot of obsessive Johnny Cash fans around.”
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The guest then said: “Well, I wouldn’t let you touch it! Nobody has ever touched it!” as Lisa promised not to handle the precious item. She said: “I won’t touch it. I saw you unfolded it from paper that you’d had it wrapped in.” “Toilet paper, from 1984,” the guest replied, laughing.
Turning to the valuation, Lisa then told him: “I think, if it were to come up at auction because there are so many, really die-hard Johnny Cash fans, it would certainly be upwards of £1,000. Perhaps £2,000, maybe more. Is it something that you are thinking of maybe selling or are you going to hand it down?” “No, I’ll never sell it, no,” the guest replied before revealing he planned to be buried with it when he dies. “That will go for the long sleep with me.”
The owner said he would never sell the mouth organ, handed to him by Cash at a concert, even though it could be worth thousands (BBC)Lisa replied: “Well, that’s a true fan there, obviously. Thanks so much for bringing it along. I’m absolutely delighted to see it.” Elsewhere in the programme, other treasures included an early painting by Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, a Ming dynasty Buddha worth up to £15,000 and pages from the very first printing presses that are as historically important as the invention of the internet.
Host Fiona Bruce told viewers that rare, early books are always an exciting find on the BBC programme, particularly from the dawn of the printing press in the 15th Century. So books and manuscript expert Matthew Haley couldn’t contain his excitement when a guest in Glasgow brought in a collection of printed material that dated back to 1470.
Among the collection were documents dating as far back as the Guttenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe and marking the start of a new age of printed books in the West.
Expert Matthew told him: “It really is special. I mean, talk about old prints. These are pretty much the oldest printed thing that we’ll ever see on the Antiques Roadshow. There’s a sheet of paper here that was printed in 1470 – 550 years ago. And this is just a small part of the amazing collection you’ve formed. It’s a huge and spectacular collection.”
Explaining why it was so important, Matthew continued: “Guttenberg printing the Guttenberg Bible in 1455. That was an absolutely seminal change in basically the history of the human race. Without printing, we wouldn’t have had the Reformation. It’s like the explosion that happened when the internet came on to the scene."
*Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays on BBC1 at 7pm
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